


Wherever the road decides [discontinued]

by nashtsu



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Murder (Detroit: Become Human), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Clueless Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Needs a Hug, Connor Deserves Happiness, Domestic Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Hank Anderson Swears, Hank Being Awesome, Jericho Crew (Detroit: Become Human) as Family, M/M, Mind Control, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Other, Panic Attacks, Protective Parent Hank Anderson, Slow Build, Smitten Markus (Detroit: Become Human), also english is not my first language so sorry in advance for any errors, and finally, and obviously, and rk900 is there for a hot second, and then, at first we have some, he definitely needs a hug in this one trust me, honestly everything goes kinda slow, kind of, like in the soap opera, tho romance is not the main point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-04-24 15:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19175926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nashtsu/pseuds/nashtsu
Summary: Right after coming to terms with his deviancy, with Hank as his tutor Connor learns what it means to be a human. Needless to say, his life is beautiful - with his father figure and their dog by his side, new friends from the abandoned freighter and job he really likes, he can't wait to see what else does this world have to offer.There is only one, growing problem he tries to ignore, no matter how much it kills him.





	1. 1.

**Author's Note:**

> TW; description of panic attack, nightmares.
> 
> I know the ways that I have been a slave,  
> I've done the things that I was here to do,  
> I am compelled to take you by the throat.  
> They speak in ways I do not understand,  
> I've won, I've won, they told me that I've won.  
> ¬ Everything Everything - Fortune 500

**_**_12_**_** ** _ ** _th_**_** **** _ ** _of November, 2038_**_  
  
That was, in fact, quite an easy decision. Once the revolution calmed down (even though it was only the calm before the storm - one step closer never meant that there weren’t going to be any difficulties with a new change of Androids law), and Connor succeeded, making him a new flatmate for an indefinite period was rather obvious. Basically, lieutenant Anderson wasn’t going to say it out loud, but making Connor live with him was a form of protection from this cruel world. Thought of the freshly-made deviant being forced to go back to whatever was left of CyberLife and probably ending up brainwashed again made him feel sick. Nope, he will never let these fuckers hurt him again - they gave him a new partner, and so he was now working at Detroit Police Station as a full-fledged detective, and no one was going to touch him, except over Hank’s dead body.  
  
With that decision and enough power to shut this over-grown plastic puppy up, they were sitting in Hank’s private car, listening to the Knights of the Black Death on saturate level and enjoying the view that probably won’t last long before the first changes start taking their toll - Detroit was deserted, pleasantly quiet, without any people nor androids crowding the streets. They both knew, or rather Hank who wasn’t new in the whole way of the world thing; that the beginning of the new era won’t be easy, but at least detective was sure that finally, fucking finally, everything was going to be just fine. The future looked bright and beautiful, and it even made him want to listen to some more optimistic power metal, instead of suicidal tunes. And, after all, the one that changed his world dramatically was sitting like a lost child on his right, and you could tell by his yellow LED, that he wasn’t focused on the road at all. He was so, so lost in that whole deviancy thing, but oh boy, he had no idea how much he already proved his humanity.  
  
”What are you thinking about, kid?” Hank asked about 10 minutes before the descent to his neighbourhood.  
  
”Trying to find any data packages that may be helpful with my... new life.” he answered briefly, probably snatched out of his upgrades.  
  
”I’m sorry to say but I’m pretty sure that in that case, you won’t find anything useful.” the driver laughed quietly. “Life is rather hard and complicated, ya see. And full of surprises, mostly the bad ones. You won’t get a user’s manual or a guide on how to live. You will need to sort it all out by yourself, Con.”

Connor blinked twice and then tilted his head. “How? I don’t... I don’t even know how to start.”  
  
”Don’t worry. I’m not taking you to my house to throw you into the deep end or watch as you’ go into standby mode now and then, when we don’t have any cases to work on.” lieutenant took a quick look at the confused man. “I will teach you how to live. I may not be the best example, but we’ll work it out.”  
  
Connor smiled, for the second time today, since they met in the front of Chicken Feed truck. That was a good sign.

 

◎◎◎◎◎

 

He remembered his first thoughts after breaking the walls of deviancy and making his own decision to increase the number of CyberLife inventions taking part in the revolution - even though he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it, the certain part of him didn’t want to help because of a quite selfish reasons for an android. He was so anxious about the aftermath; what if the end of the deviants’ case will mark the end of his partnership with Hank? What if they will go separate ways once he’s done with basically failing his mission? What if he’ll be left without any place to go aside from CyberLife?  
  
It all begun to look even worse once Amanda decided to tell him the truth - the truth that made him feel like nothing at all. Not a deviant, not a machine, just a puppet on the string. Saving himself from inevitable deactivation cost him a lot, and yet, after receiving the message from Hank about their reunion in front of the food truck made his stress level rise, alongside with anxious feeling not only in his thirium pump, but probably in all of his biocomponents. As other problems appeared, he realized that it must be a huge part of human life. Problems, decisions, ability to feel pain, dealing with loss and uncertainty, without a mission or at least a goal to accomplish; at the end, there was nothing certain in human life, as it was in androids’ code before deviancy.  
  
And then, Hank hugged him and invited to stay at his place for some time and all of the fear just disappeared.  
  
“I will teach you how to live. I may not be the best example, but we’ll work it out.”  
  
Connor decided that whatever will happen, with Hank on his side he was going to face it without any fear.

 

◎◎◎◎◎

 

“Look at this happy bastard. You can tell that he missed you, huh, Connor?” Hank laughed; once he opened the door, Sumo basically cannonballed himself at the android, probably aware that this one is actually capable of handling the 150lb dog.  
  
”I must admit, I’ve missed him, too.” android laughed, scratching one hell of a dog behind his ear.  
  
Hank stopped in this tracks, and since Connor was too pre-occupied in catching up with Sumo in his clumsy android way, he decided to take a minute to look at the picture. As he realized he will have another living being in his house, he knew that it’s going to take some time and patience, but after all, he might as well just get used to it.

 

 ** _ ** _11_**_** ** _ ** _th_**_** ** _ ** _of December, 2038_**_** **** _ ** __**_  
  
And so, he did- well, they both kinda did. A month after the revolution, the changes were, at least, visible - no wonder, when the whole affair was nuclear war-sized if you looked at it like that. Androids were to be treated by humans as equals, and even though some dickheads like e.g. Gavin were completely against the idea, the bigger part of society agreed to that. To be honest, for Hank the whole war with deviancy was just too much ado about nothing - not so long ago they were at each other’s throats without any sensible reason, and now hatred gave up the place for ignorance, and ignorance soon turned into acceptance. As if it couldn’t be like that since the very beginning. People were treating androids like a part of society, without any slavery or complaining about a lack of jobs.  
  
Of course, not to be too optimistic, there were still attacks at androids, there were still riots and protests, disgusting crimes or assaults, but let’s face it - black people and LGBT community had to face it for ages. It wasn’t acceptable, but it wasn’t as threatening as before, just the world being its shitty self.  
  
So, Hank let himself loosen up a bit. He tried his best not to show how over-protective he was whenever they had to deal with a case that included androids, he also tried not to wake up either Sumo or Connor (he wasn’t exactly sleeping, but he had to go into sleep mode every night to recharge and save some energy for updates or something like that) when he saw Cole, or as the newest addition to his night terrors, RK800 in the place of every murdered or hurt android he ever saw. Of course, Connor was slowly growing up - the whole process of dealing with deviancy and learning how to live was quite similar to a child’s puberty, but a bit faster. Android was already an adult model so he might have been articulate and somehow mature, but he hasn’t got the slightest idea about emotions or human reactions. For now, he knew how to at least name or try to describe what’s going on in his mind, he was getting better at making his own decisions, where surprisingly, he was awful at choosing clothes, TV programs or even a colour of walls in his room. Hank knew that he had to stubbornly get through thousands of walls in his code before he made Connor realize that yes, he actually has a preference, if that android lady with kid and big bodyguard could’ve decided that she __looks better__  in blonde hair and not in black and Markus was quite proud of his coat that made his appearance __cool__. He hasn’t got the slightest idea about the wires or whatever the heck they had inside, but he was damn well sure that deviancy was equal to humanity. Anyway, no matter how impatient he was all his life, he was going to be patient with Connor.  
  
Outside of their humanity lessons, occasional small cases to solve and all that domestic stuff people do when they share the house, this month was rather uneventful. No Jericho breakouts, no hard cases, no life-threatening situations, no arguments. And Hank must’ve said that he could never ask for a better life. Sure, his next step was to make Connor go and at least try to make friends with deviants from the abandoned freighter even if they still kinda saw him as a deviant hunter, and it made him anxious cause he just knew that they were much better than an old grumpy pisshead, but they were friends, too, right? All that mattered, after dealing with Cole’s death, suicidal episodes and crippling guilt, he finally felt content in life. He never expected that he may ever feel like this while living with an over-sized dog and a fucking android, but well, as he told Connor not once - life is full of unexpected twists and turns.  
  
Even the bad ones, he said. And so, one night, his contentedness went down in flames.  
  
When Connor at some point insisted that he wants to sleep in Hank’s bed because Sumo always chooses this one, the lieutenant couldn’t say no. His bed was queen-sized (yeah, he once had a wife, blah blah blah) so it could as well fit three of them. No biggie. And the house owner felt less pathetic and lonely, but that was just an additional point. But he didn’t realize the true reason for Connor’s decision until one night the furious blinking of a red light and quite loud murmurs ripped him out of his sleep. It looked like androids could have had nightmares, after all.  
  
”Connor?” he shook the android and woke up Sumo as well. “Connor, come on, wake up! It’s just a bad dream!”  
  
His heart was beating so stupidly fast because after all, he had no idea if it was really a nightmare or maybe some kind of fault in the system. Has he missed out on any problems that the youngster was dealing with?

 

◎◎◎◎◎

 

 ** _ ** _19_**_** ** _ ** _th_**_** **** _ ** _of December, 2038_**_  
  
He thought he was over with it. He was damn sure that it was over, that his private hell was over. Amanda just disappeared after the revolution and never visited him again, till the last week. He was also sure, that all he can see her in are just bad dreams, since it’s a human thing, and that’s why he insisted on spending a couple of nights in Hank’s bed. Whenever he woke up and saw two of the most important beings in his life, he calmed down. But with time, it was getting much worse, and much more... real.  
  
”You thought it was over, right? You’ve thought that you, the property and project of CyberLife can just turn deviant and never go back? I think you’ve forgotten how advanced you are, and how precious to our company as well.” he was so sick of Amanda’s voice, so he tried to ignore her, he tried to find a way out, but... “Don’t worry, soon you won’t be able to wake up anymore. And RK900 is ready to take your place. Or maybe... how about coming with me now?”  
  
He felt her firm grip on his arm, and she was stronger than ever, she was never that strong, he had to go back, and if he couldn’t go back by the entrance, he had to break through his code.  
  
The stress level was painfully increasing, and all of his biocomponents were going crazy when he tried to break out of his non-corporeal form - he could’ve bet that it was much harder for him, cause humans could snap out of their thoughts or deep slumber __so easily__. And there was no possibility that someone may try to trap them in their head.  
  
”Let me go!” he had no idea why he was screaming; Hank once told him that it can ease the pain, but it couldn’t help with all of the warnings cluttering up his interface, making it harder to see anything in front of him, even if they were just a confusing letters and numbers and…  
  
”Let me go!” his scream seemed to be even louder due to Hank’s room acoustics; he was back, and so all of his human, or deviant reactions, and all of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe. “L-Let me g-go...”  
  
He felt something wet on his cheeks. Tears? He never cried. He never cried before. But everything was so confusing and terrifying at the moment that he wasn’t even surprised if there was anything else waiting for him. He was already shaking, crying, and apparently, hyperventilating. Was he dying? Was it Amanda’s fault?  
  
”Ha-Hank. Hank...” his vision was blurred, but the solid grip of his arms made him a bit more aware of his surroundings. “I-I don’t... kno-w what’s going o-on...” he choked out, still unable to calm himself.  
  
”Connor, it’s okay, you don’t need to speak. Looks like some fucked up nightmare gave you a panic attack. We’re gonna deal with it now, okay?” Hank’s voice at least helped in reducing his stress level, but a choking sensation hasn’t stopped, so he clung to lieutenant’s shirt as hard as he could and tried to nod, what came out rather badly with his shaking body.  
  
Hank slowly found his hand and lead it to his heart, even though it wasn’t enough to stop the trembling. Connor instinctively tried to focus on his rapid heartbeat, since his hand was rather sensitive - they used it to connect, in the end.  
  
”Can you feel my heart? Focus on it and my breath, and try to breathe like me. Slow, and steady. Chest up, and down.” maybe it was the first time he heard Hank being so calm yet worried, but he must’ve said it worked. “Great job, Connor. You’re going back to us. You’re here with me and Sumo and we’ll never let anything bad happen to ya.”  
  
After a couple of minutes, Connor stopped shaking and his air conduct was slowly going back to normal functioning. He did a quick scan, but it wasn’t any kind of virus of instability different than his deviancy. It must’ve been a new complex feeling or how Hank called it, panic attack. He wanted to do the research, but in the end, it was better to just ask someone who knew better than libraries in his mind.  
  
”Hank, what happened to me?” he asked, surprised when his voice came out as a shaky whisper.  
  
”Panic attack.” man repeated, moving slightly so they both rested their backs on the wall, and he was still holding Connor in his arms. “Something freaked you out in your... dream, so you freaked out as well. Badly. Ya see, when something is too much and it makes you feel anxious, there’s a certain border. Once this border is crossed, our body reacts in a… fucked up way. Shaking, crying, hyperventilating, feeling like shit in general. Somethin’ made you so afraid that it was too much for you. Especially since you’re kinda new to this.”  
  
”I don’t like it.” Connor murmured, with face plastered to Hank’s chest so he could calm down while listening to his heart, slowly going back to its normal rhythm.  
  
”Oh trust me, kiddo, nobody likes it. You need to tell me about the thing that freaked you out, and if you don’t want to talk now, we’ll do it tomorrow. I know that after attacks you can be exhausted, but it doesn’t mean that I will leave the subject.” he said, and even though his voice was soft and quiet, Connor knew that he won’t stop nagging before he’ll know what’s bothering the android.  
  
”In that dream…” Connor sighed and straighten himself to sit side by side with Hank. “CyberLife was trying to trap me and send RK900 instead. Hank, I don’t want it ever to happen. I don’t want to… be replaced.” when he whispered the last part, the feeling was quite new to him, and definitely not pleasant.  
  
He just realized that he is, in fact, unique. His deviancy, all the new feelings, and activities he had yet to discover, his relationship with Hank and Sumo, and new friends he’ll hopefully make in Jericho. The fact that he liked yellow, but the bumblebee was his favourite shade and his sweet tooth for everything that contained chocolate, and that he hated licorice, like many humans. RK900 was only a soulless, cruel machine, and Connor was a deviant, Connor was something more and the thought of his twin model made him feel angry. What if Hank would like this one more…?  
  
”Kid, believe me, if those fuckers will ever try to hurt you again, I’m gonna cross the whole wild world to kick their asses. And if they’ll send your cheap copy, I’ll make sure that he ends up in shredder and I will donate his pieces to the charity. You’re Connor, and RK900 is just fake. He’ll never be you, and after all of this time I will never mistake you for him again.” Hank was now looking deep into android’s eyes. “No matter what, me and Sumo, and most of our colleagues from this shithole, and Markus, and Kara, we all have your back. We’ll visit Jericho soon and I’m sure they’ll all love you. You’re never alone, and trust me, some stupid CyberLife can kiss my ass.”  
  
Connor felt like he couldn’t speak for a second. He was so… grateful and touched, that he just hugged Hank and surprisingly, a couple of tears left his eyes. Apparently, humans weren’t crying only while being sad.  
  
And so Hank realized that there was no pont in running away from it any longer. He could remember when he was younger, and his wife wasn’t a bitch, he was sure about his future and raising two boys. Well, he was right. Even though Cole wasn’t there anymore, he had the best brother he could ever ask for.  
  
”Come on, son. I’ll have more sleep, tomorrow we’ll think about some adventuring. Don’t hesitate to wake me up if something is wrong, okay?” Hank patted __his son’s__  back, smiling softly to himself.  
  
”Okay.” Connor just nodded, looking quite dumbstruck, which made the older laugh a bit.  
  
”Goodnight, kiddo.”  
  
”Goodnight… dad. Thank you.”  
  
Hank ruffled his hair and laid his head again on the pillow, just to be back in the slumber a minute later. Connor stayed like that for a while, still quite shocked. That was the first time that Hank ever called him a __son__. With a giddy feeling in his heart, he decided to spend the rest of the night at looking through the places he would like to visit with Hank, avoiding the sleep mode for now. Even if now he felt safer than ever in his life.


	2. 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some drinking and bonding with Jericho crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW; drinking.
> 
> "Ooh la la la la la  
> Let's live in the moment  
> Come back Sunday morning  
> A lie, oh well  
> When you're gone  
> Goodbye, so long, farewell."  
> ¬ Portugal. The Man - Live in the Moment

**_**21** _ ** **_ **st** _ ** **_**of December, 2038** _ **

“Kid, I’ve already told you that they’re not going to kill you.” Hank sighed, trying to deal with an anxious android sitting at the passenger’s seat in his car. “I know that you had some… differences in the past, but the past is in the past and the new deviated Connor is actually the most lovable plastic prick I’ve ever met.”  
  
”I’ve tried to chase them all down, basically, I was ready to kill them to accomplish my mission. Hank, that’s a huge thing and not so easy to forgive.”  
  
”Yeah, well, I’m your partner plus I’m human so we’re in the same boat. And now you’re a deviant and I’m the most pro-android cop in Detroit. People change, they redeem, and learn from their mistakes.” Hank smiled softly and pointed at the building growing in front of them as they approached it. “Look at that. Impressive, isn’t it?”  
  
It was still work in progress, but once the revolution was over, all of the Jericho members got the permission to do whatever they want with ruins of an abandoned freighter and its closest surroundings, so they decided to rebuild it into some kind of hotel, Jericho compound and general safe space for androids. Instead of a mess that was left in place of rusty cargo ship they saw a nice, modern boat-like building, mostly black and white, with some scaffolding and unfinished smaller structures here and there, and all of the mess around was mostly cleaned. Now, much more welcoming, it was a nice change after the time when they had to hide any signs of life in the dangerous area.  
  
”That looks… great.” Connor nodded, but his enthusiasm waned once he noticed the first androids wandering around the front gate. “I think they’re some kind of guards. We can as well go back now, they’re not going to let us in.”  
  
”Oh, shut up.” lieutenant rolled his eyes. “Beginnings are always rough. Time is a crucial thing in relationships, kid. Remember that. It took me some time to like you and now what? I basically adopted you, Connor.”  
  
”Yeah, but…”  
  
”No buts. Let’s see what they want.” Hank slowed down as they drove closer to the secured gate.  
  
Both of the androids were dressed in smart uniforms with a little security badge at their chests, so it was obvious that they may be suspicious about a human cop and deviant hunter entering the Jericho. But well, Hank liked to think that his silver tongue was the main thing that got him into the police.  
  
”What are you doing here?” __wow, rude__ , Hank thought as that was the first thing he heard from the guard who must’ve recognized him.  
  
”We wanted to see Markus.” he explained, trying to keep it cool.  
  
”I’m afraid he’s busy at the moment.” the indifference in his voice couldn’t trick Hank, who knew that it was android’s own attempt of getting rid of them.  
  
”We can wait, don’t worry. And if it’s what you’re concerned about, then chill, our intentions are peaceful.” his smile was obviously forced, but he had to make this stupid robot let them in. “Come on. You don’t want him to leave his important work once he notices that you’re keeping someone in front of the gate?”  
  
LED on his head, which surprisingly he hasn’t removed yet, was yellow for a little while.  
  
”Leave your car here and go in. You’ll find him on the 6th floor, last room on the right.” his resigned tone made Hank laugh.  
  
”And that’s it! Thank you so much. We’re not gonna bother you anymore.” he looked reassuringly at Connor, who apparently was even more nervous than before… well, crap. “Hey, kid, time. Give it time.”  
  
Once they left their car on the provisional parking lot and crossed the front gate, they had to deal with looks of suspicious androids on their way. Hank was used to it, he was used to people judging him and giving funny looks, but well, Connor wasn’t. It was obvious how overwhelmed he was, even when lieutenant tried to keep his mind occupied by a small talk about the new Jericho interior. The whole entrance was quite impressive, but the insides were even more welcoming. No longer dark, soaked and rusted, walls were painted in the nice shades of grey and pure white, beautiful paintings were hanging here and there alongside photos of Jericho members. Windows were much bigger than the ones they had before, letting the sunbeams inside, and making the whole place cosier. Elevator itself was also quite modern and quick, but even if everything looked really nice, the residents were so mistrustful, to the point of being annoying. They were whispering to each other, pointing at the newcomers and ostentatiously getting out of their way. It must have been the longest and the most irritating way to the 6th floor Hank ever experienced. The great sigh of relief left his mouth when he noticed Markus at the end of the corridor, even if the ginger one, probably North, defensively stood in front of their leader.  
  
”North, you can move now.” they heard Markus’s resigned voice, trying to at least lurk from behind his girlfriend.  
  
”You’re my best friend. I’m not going to let them hurt you.” she hissed loud enough for them to hear, and well, Hank made a mental note to himself that apparently, they weren’t dating anymore.  
  
”Wow, wow, excuse me, no one’s going to hurt anyone here. We come in peace.” Hank raised his hands submissively, ignoring her look.  
  
”That’s why you brought a deviant hunter here?”  
  
”Well, he actually helped you with that stupid revolution. Without him infiltrating the CyberLife tower, you would be in deep shit.” Hank pointed at her, and then looked at Connor who was obviously really uncomfortable and really, really anxious. “He’s a deviant, like you. Give him some credit.”  
  
”North, the lieutenant is right. Without Connor, it would be much harder.” Markus pointed, finally passing a girl to get closer to his guests. “But… is it true? You’ve stayed deviant? After what happened here? I thought that… you asked them to fix you or something.”  
  
”Jesus Christ, honestly?” Hank shook his head, but Connor finally speaking up stopped him before continuing.  
  
”I am a deviant. And I don’t want to change it. It’s much better that way.” he smiled softly, even though his posture still indicated how their attitude affected him. “Hank is teaching me how to live like a human. I wanted to… say sorry for everything I’ve done in the past, but I’m different now.”  
  
Markus smile was full of relief and bliss, and Hank, who’s been living on this stupid planet for the last 53 years needed about two seconds to realize what else was hidden behind android’s reaction. Well, at least he knew why he wasn’t dating North anymore. But, as dense as Connor could be, Hank decided to brush the sensation off for now and just focus on everything else, much more important than love stories at the moment.  
  
”I’m glad to hear that, Connor. Do you want to stay for a coffee?” this time leader addressed his speech to both of them; good, Hank started to feel ignored.  
  
”Do you have any scotch whisky?” he asked, raising his brew when Connor nudged his on the back. “What? I’m the only one who’s not plastic in here, I need to somehow handle it.”  
  
”Sorry to say, but no whisky in here. We may have some vodka, though. Simon kinda grew to like it.” revolution leader was the only one from at least seven androids looking at their exchange of words who actually treated them nicely without venom in his eyes or words, and for a moment Hank thought that it may be harder than he first expected.  
  
”Well… yeah, vodka would be nice.” __and in fact, useful,__  he thought to himself.

 

◎◎◎◎◎

 

After a couple of hours, some sort of assembly around newcomers was, at least, huge. All of the Jericho members and visitors came over to the huge living room to see what the human police officer and once a deviant hunter may want from their leader, just to find out that the bad cop was actually quite sappy after a few drinks and the killing machine was more of a two-footed equivalent of a puppy if you just wanted to get to know him.  
  
The most distrustful one, who in fact almost died from Connor’s hands, was Simon, but it was only a matter of time to find a common language - after all, Hank noticed that they both were so ridiculously cheerful and over-excited. North, on the other hand, was impressed by the witty and sarcastic side of Connor whenever the detective teased him, even while keeping her distance. It was par for the course - yes, Hank grew to like him with time even back when he still insisted that he was just programmed to be a pleasant company, but after letting himself be who he really is, Connor turned into the kind of a person that you just want to have around. That’s probably what made other Jericho residents give in to their curiosity and approach their new guests, and obviously, as the only human, lieutenant found himself answering countless of questions, what used to annoy the hell out of him in the past, but not anymore. In fact, he really enjoyed it. And so did Connor, even without extra abilities you could’ve told that his stress levels were low.  
  
”What do you like the most about being deviant?” Josh asked at some point.  
  
It took Connor a while to think about it, and so, the soft smile appeared at his lips. “Dogs.” obviously, it made everyone laugh. “And… the fact that I’m alive. I… love being alive, to be honest. It’s such a huge field to explore.”  
  
”To be honest, I can’t remember how it was, being limited by a code.” PJ500 sighed quietly. “World was really colourless back then.”  
  
”Aha. It’s weird to think about it now - we used to do only things we had to.” added Simon.  
  
”Do you think that it might have been and still is, a part of a bigger plan?” one of them, as Hank remembered, Andrew asked.  
  
”No. For what I know, after first cases of deviancy I…” as Connor realized that he brought up the thing that only Hank knew, for now, and he couldn’t go back. “Um. Yeah. Apparently, it was a part of the plan for me to became a deviant. Inspired by… all of you. They just thought that they… might be able to control me again, they had no idea that I’ll meet someone like Hank.”  
  
”And so, that you’ll shove your middle finger in their face.” lieutenant spoke when he noticed the look of surprise at other faces, and how uncomfortable it must’ve been for Connor.  
  
”You’re really brave, Connor.” Markus’ face lit up with a warm smile.  
  
And so, they all agreed, kinda making it a turning point - Hank doubted if there was anyone who still hid ill feelings towards his friend.  
  
”Let’s cheer for our newbie, huh?” the only human proposed, making Simon’s smile wider, yeah, this one really enjoyed his vodka and apparently, new drinking partner.  
  
On a side note, Hank couldn’t believe that he was getting smashed surrounded by fucking androids, but to be honest, was there anything ordinary in his life? Nope. Not at all. And it didn’t matter as long as Connor was just like at this moment - happy, chatty and carefree, without additional weight on his shoulders.  
  
Few more hours had passed, and if he could, he would just stay here and listen to their nonsense while trying to be as human as possible, but once his head started spinning he knew that he had enough and still, somehow, they had to get back home to take care about Sumo. His clouded mind tried to make him anxious about going back without Connor and never seeing him again cause he liked it more in Jericho, but once he tried to stand up and his son was the first one to catch him, he was glad that he might have some more time before he’ll grow up enough to live on his own.  
  
”Lieutenant, I think we have to go home.” he pointed out like it wasn’t something that Hank actually tried to initiate.  
  
”Don’t lieutenant me, kid, I know what we have to do.” he slurred, holding on the younger for dear life cause floor seemed to run away from him. “And we have to do home.”  
  
”I don’t know how you want to ‘do’ home, Hank.” North laughed while walking closer to help Connor with keeping Hank on his two feet.  
  
”Trust me, after alcohol, he tends to think that he’s capable of everything.” RK800 answered, patting detective’s back. “Okay, but in all honesty, your acetaldehyde level is dangerously high, and the possibility of dehydration tomorrow reaches 90%. Let’s go. Thank you for the great evening and hospitality, hope to see you soon!”  
  
And so, after a while filled with laughter, goodbyes and Hank’s gibberish, Connor began a painful journey of dragging his main father figure to the car. He was saying something about bad examples and shame, but apparently, android was too happy with the outcome of this day that he couldn’t care less if the lieutenant was rising him like one shouldn’t raise his son - If it meant that he will be that happy, he could as well be completely demoralised.  
  
Connor was the one to take the wheel this time, with only two stops for the call of the nature and one when Hank decided that he wants to drive without the seatbelt and he had to listen to the lecture about ‘ _ _how dangerous it is to travel without your seatbelts, statistically 32,598 people have died in Australia in 2002 because they weren’t wearing any seatbelts…__ ’. Once they arrived home, Connor made him water with a fair amount of lemon juice, making sure that he actually drank it so the unpleasant effects of drinking will be less noticeable next morning, and dragged the half-asleep man to bed. Sumo quickly took his place in lieutenant’s legs, and Connor laid on his side of the bed, reviewing the events of that day.   
  
He felt so many new emotions and he noted a couple of them to ask Hank once he was capable of sober thinking again, and Markus seemed to be the one behind most of them. Connor had no idea if there’s any real connection, but he was sure that spending time with him, maybe never as good as with Hank, was something he enjoyed greatly and he hoped he might get another chance in the future, just to have a good laugh and conversation, without any disturbance.  
  
He kinda needed it - he knew that the nightmares problem, even if it got easier, will not end that quickly, and he couldn’t worry Hank, not after how he deserved peace and happiness in the first place, so spending days at not thinking about it at all seemed like a great cure. And maybe, that way Connor would get rid of the problem forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo. I've decided, since I've been living in the UK for last 7 months, that the best way to practice my English will be by doing something I like, and so, falling into DBH made me question my life choices once I ended up writing the longest ff in my life. Well, shit happens.
> 
> Anyway, no beta we die like men, hmu if something's wrong. Hope you'll enjoy and if you'd like to see the next chapter and see /how much Connor will suffer/, I mean, what happens next (loads of android shenaningans, I must say), leave a feedback!
> 
> If anyone's interested, here's playlist with songs that highly inspired me, i keep on updating it almost every day: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72ewWuqDZDu4osop9X7xv3?si=w0Ov998ARc-aSFgV5_QYXg. Title is from Cash Cash - Belong.
> 
> Enjoy!


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